Organizational Theory,
Design, and Change
Fifth Edition
Gareth R. Jones
Chapter 7
Creating and
Managing
Organizational
Culture
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Learning Objectives
1. Differentiate between values and
norms and understand the way
culture is shared by an organization’s
members
2. Describe how individuals learn
culture both formally and informally
3. Identify the four building blocks or
foundations of an organization’s
culture that account for cultural
differences among organizations
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Learning Objectives (cont.)
4. Understand how an organization’s
culture, like its structure, can be
designed or managed
5. Discuss an important outcome of an
organization’s culture: corporate
social responsibility
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Basic Terms
 Organizational culture: the set of
shared values and norms that
controls organizational members’
interactions with each other and with
people outside the organization
 Values: general criteria, standards,
or guiding principles that people use
to determine which types of
behaviors, events, situations, and
outcomes are desirable or
undesirable
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Basic Terms (cont.)
Terminal value: a desired end state
or outcome that people seek to
achieve
Instrumental value: a desired mode
of behavior
Norms: standards or styles of
behavior that are considered
acceptable or typical for a group of
people
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Figure 7-1: Terminal and Instrumental
Values in an Organization’s Culture
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Organizational Culture
Based on enduring values embodied in
organizational norms, rules, standard
operating procedures, and goals
People draw on these cultural values to
guide their actions and decisions when
faced with uncertainty and ambiguity
Important influence on members’
behavior and response to situations
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Strong Cultures
Can be disastrous when managers or
owners behave unethically
Can also be a source of competitive
advantage


Facilitators of mutual adjustment in the
organization
Is also a form of informal organization
that facilitates working of the
organizational structure
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How is an Organization’s Culture
Transmitted to its Members?
 Socialization: the process by which
members learn and internalize the
values and norms of an organization’s
culture
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How is an Organization’s Culture
Transmitted to its Members? (cont.)
 Role orientation: the characteristic
way in which newcomers respond to
a situation


Institutionalized role orientation: results
when individuals are taught to respond to a
new context in the same way that existing
organizational members respond to it
Individualized role orientations: results
when individuals are allowed and encouraged
to be creative and to experiment with changing
norms and values
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Table 7.1: How Socialization Tactics
Shape Employees’ Role Orientation
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How is an Organization’s Culture
Transmitted to its Members? (cont.)
 Collective vs. individual


Collective tactics: provide newcomers
with common learning experiences
designed to produce a standardized
response to a situation
Individual tactics: each newcomer’s
learning experiences are unique, and
newcomers can learn new, appropriate
responses for each situation
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How is an Organization’s Culture
Transmitted to its Members? (cont.)
Formal vs. informal


Formal tactics: segregate newcomers
from existing organizational members
during the learning process
Informal tactics: newcomers learn on
the job, as members of a team
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How is an Organization’s Culture
Transmitted to its Members? (cont.)
 Sequential vs. random


Sequential tactics: provide
newcomers with explicit information
about the sequence in which they will
perform new activities or occupy new
roles as they advance in an organization
Random tactics: training is based on
the interests and needs of individual
newcomers because there is no set
sequence to the newcomers’ progress in
the organization
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How is an Organization’s Culture
Transmitted to its Members? (cont.)
 Fixed vs. variable


Fixed tactics: give newcomers precise
knowledge of the timetable associated
with completing each stage in the
learning process
Variable tactics: provide no
information about when newcomers will
reach a certain stage in the learning
process
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How is an Organization’s Culture
Transmitted to its Members? (cont.)
Serial vs. disjunctive


Serial tactics: employed, existing
organizational members act as role
models and mentors for newcomers
Disjunctive processes: require
newcomers to figure out and develop
their own way of behaving
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How is an Organization’s Culture
Transmitted to its Members? (cont.)
 Divestiture vs. investiture


Divestiture: newcomers receive
negative social support and existing
organizational members withhold
support until newcomers learn the ropes
and conform to established norms
Investiture: newcomers immediately
receive positive social support from other
organizational members and are
encouraged to be themselves
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Stories, Ceremonies, and
Organizational Language
Organization rites



Rites of passage: mark an individual’s
entry to, promotion in, and departure
from the organization
Rites of integration: shared
announcements of organizational success,
office parties and cookouts
Rites of enhancement: public
recognition and reward for employee
contributions
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Table 7-2: Organizational
Rites
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Where Does Organizational
Culture Come From?
 Comes from interaction of four
factors:




The personal and professional
characteristics of people within the
organization
Organizational ethics
The property rights that the organization
gives to employees
The structure of the organization
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Figure 7-2: Where an Organization’s
Culture Comes From
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Where Does Organizational
Culture Come From? (cont.)
 Characteristics of people within the
organization

Through a process of hiring people that
match existing culture and attrition,
people become more and more similar
over time
 Organizational ethics

The moral values, beliefs, and rules that
establish the appropriate way for
organizational stakeholders to deal with
one another and with the environment
 Derived from the personality and beliefs of the
founder and top management
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Figure 7.3: Factors Influencing the
Development of Organizational Ethics
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Where Does Organizational
Culture Come From? (cont.)
 Property rights: rights that an
organization gives to members to
receive and use organizational
resources
 The distribution of property rights to
different stakeholders determines:


How effective an organization is
The culture that emerges in the
organization
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Table 7-3: Common Property
Rights Given to Employees
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Where Does Organizational
Culture Come From? (cont.)
Property rights (cont.)



Top managers are in a strong position to
establish the terms of their own
employment and the property rights
received by others
Changing property rights changes the
corporate culture by changing the
instrumental values that motivate and
coordinate employees
Strong property rights may harm the
organization
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Where Does Organizational
Culture Come From? (cont.)
 Organizational structure

Mechanistic vs. Organic



Mechanistic - predictability and stability are
desired goals
Organic – innovation and flexibility are
desired end states
Centralized vs. Decentralized


Decentralized - encourages and rewards
creativity and innovation
Centralized – reinforces obedience and
accountability
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Can Organizational Culture be
Managed?
 Changing a culture can be very
difficult


Hard to understand how the previous
four factors interact
Major alterations are sometimes needed
 Some ways culture can be changed:



Redesign structure
Revise property rights used to motivate
people
Change the people – especially top
management
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Social Responsibility
Social responsibility: refers to a
manager’s duty or obligation to make
decisions that nurture, protect,
enhance, and promote the welfare and
well-being of stakeholders and society
as a whole
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Approaches to Social
Responsibility
 Obstructionist approach: the low
end of the organization’s
commitment to social responsibility

Managers choose to behave unethically
and illegally
 Defensive approach: a minimal
commitment to ethical behavior

Managers attempt to stay within the law
but do not attempt social responsibility
beyond what is required by law
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Approaches to Social
Responsibility (cont.)
 Accommodative approach: the
acknowledgment of the need to support social
responsibility

Managers want to make the right choices when
called on to do so
 Proactive approach: actively embrace the
need to behave in socially responsible ways


Managers go out of their way to learn about the
needs of different stakeholder groups
Willing to utilize organizational resources to
promote the interests not only of stockholders, but
of other stakeholders
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Figure 7-4: Approaches to Social
Responsibility
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Why Be Socially Responsible?
 Workers and society benefit directly because
organizations bear some of the costs of
helping workers
 Quality of life as a whole would be higher as a
climate of caring is encouraged
 It is the right thing to do
 Companies that act responsibly toward their
stakeholders benefit from increasing business
and see their profits rise
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Why Be Socially Responsible?
(cont.)
Whistle-blower: a person who
reports illegal or unethical behavior

Takes a stand against unscrupulous
managers or other stakeholders
Evidence suggests that managers who
behave socially responsibly will, in the
long run, benefit all organizational
stakeholders
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